2 Officers On Leave After An Ohio Inmate Suicide

The worn bars in the cell block are seen at Alcatraz Island, a 22-acre rocky outcrop situated 1.5 miles offshore in San Francisco Bay, August 11, 2011. Seventy-seven years ago on August 11, 1934, a group of federal prisoners classified as "most dangerous" arrived at the new high-security penitentiary designed to hold the most dangerous prisoners in the US penal system, especially those with a penchant for escape attempts. In r 20, 1969, a group of Native Americans called United Indians of All Tribes, mostly college students from San Francisco, occupied the island to protest federal policies related to American Indians. During the 29 years it was in use, the jail held such notable criminals as Al Capone, Robert Franklin Stroud (the Birdman of Alcatraz), George "Machine Gun" Kelly, James "Whitey" Bulger, Bumpy Johnson, Rafael Cancel Miranda, member of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party who attacked the United States Capitol building in 1954, Mickey Cohen, Arthur R. "Doc" Barker and Alvin Karpis (who served more time at Alcatraz than any other inmate). Today, the island's facilities are operated by the National Park Service as part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area; it is open to tours. AFP PHOTO / TIMOTHY A. CLARY (Photo credit should read TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty Images)File photo of a prison cell. (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty Images)

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Two corrections officers working when a death row inmate apparently hanged himself have been put on paid administrative leave as the Ohio prisons department investigates what happened.

Department of Rehabilitation and Correction spokeswoman JoEllen Smith said Friday the officers were placed on leave in accordance with standard practice in such cases. One officer is 30 and joined the agency in September 2010. The other is 19 and has been a corrections officer since January.

They were working at the Chillicothe Correctional Institution last weekend when 44-year-old Billy Slagle was found hanging in his cell. Slagle died Sunday, days before his execution date and hours before officers were to begin monitoring him around the clock.

Officers at the prison are supposed to check on inmates every 30 minutes. Smith wouldn’t comment further on the investigation.

A coroner confirmed that preliminary autopsy results were consistent with suicide by hanging, but prison officials haven’t said how Slagle hanged himself.

Public defender Vicki Werneke has said Slagle didn’t know his legal team had new information about his case and planned to ask for an execution delay.

The new information was brought to light by Cuyahoga County prosecutor Timothy McGinty, who told the defense team about a forgotten plea deal in which a former prosecutor offered Slagle a 30-year sentence if he pleaded guilty.

McGinty had earlier asked the Ohio Parole Board to spare Slagle, saying that jurors today, with the option of life without parole, would be unlikely to sentence Slagle to death.